Obs report, 2 Sept 08

[Rob_K]

Needed another 'hit' to make up for Saturday night...;)

Time: 11:30pm-12:45am, Tues 2 – Wed 3 September 2008 (UT+10)
Location: My backyard, Bright, Vic
Telescope: Tasco 4.5” f8 reflector on Alt-Az mount
EP: 21mm Celestron X-Cel
Transparency: Good – excellent
Seeing: Fair only

NGC247 in Cetus - large galaxy, pale grey with hint of central brightening, ‘football’ shape, mag 9.6.
NGC253 in Sculptor - large, bright edge-on spiral galaxy, central brighter region clearly visible, mag 8. Spectacular!
NGC288 in Sculptor – mag 8.1, a globular cluster not far from NGC253. Showed as a smallish, round, faint glow, with no obvious sign of central condensation. Not one of the great ones!
NGC7293 Helix Nebula in Aquarius – large pale ghost, with slightly darker central region visible in averted vision. Mag 6.5.
NGC246 PN in Cetus – small pale dot, no structure visible. Mag 8.
NGC7009 Saturn Nebula in Aquarius – beautiful tiny pale blue orb. ‘Knottiness’ around edges again observed. At higher mag (9mm ep) faint and washed out with no colour or extra detail. Suit more aperture. Mag 8.3.
NGC6822 Barnard’s Galaxy in Sagittarius – a toughie even though the overall magnitude is 8.0. Spent the most time on this object. Certainly a large extremely faint glow was just visible, but no shape was discernible and extent seemed to vary. Had position marked on basic chart and later checked with Starry Night. Spot on for position, but I seemed to have only seen the central area if SN extent is correct.
NGC6818 PN in Sagittarius – tiny very pale blue dot, with no detail visible. Easy to see. Mag 9.9, 17” diam. Close to Barnard’s Galaxy.
NGC289, galaxy in Sculptor – mag 11.7, easily visible as a small, slightly elongated, faint glow.
NGC134, galaxy in Sculptor – mag 11.2, easily visible as a small, cigar-shaped, faint glow (obvious edge-on spiral).

EDIT: Sketch added of what I think I saw of Barnard's Galaxy, sort of an 'average' really as nothing was distinct. Would be interested to hear from observers with more aperture!

Cheers -

[NQLD_Newby]

Another fantastic report Rob. Some great galaxies and PN's there, and you've provided excellent descriptions. Well done. I'll have to find some time to have a look at them myself.

[drmorbius]

Good report Rob, I'll use that to update my list for Barambah! :thumbsup:

[§AB]

good stuff man. Lots of good sights at this time of year, definately worth an all nigther.

Clear in Melb aswell, I about to get to work making my list, get a few litres of coffee, KFC and I'm all set :D

[erick]

Next few nights SAB, hopefully - let's go for it! :)

[§AB]

what's really unbelievable, is that I'm on a weeks break from uni.... and to have clear in Melbourne is just like OMFG

[erick]

I just checked the forecast. Go for it tonight. Thur - a bit iffy, Fri should be OK, then Sat iffy, maybe Sunday and Monday? :doh:

[§AB]

yup I got a list happenin, just gotta remove the 10 kg of dust and cobwebs on the scope, collimate, get KFC and I'm good to go!

[ngcles]

Hi Rob & All,

Well congratulations not only on the excellent report but on having seen those objects in what is a pretty small 'scope -- very impressive. In fact you've almost "picked the eyes out" of my Nov/Dec 2008 column !!

I'm particularly impressed that you saw NGC 246, which is one of my all-time favourite PNe -- mainly because the superimposed star-pattern makes it look so 3-D.

MMmmm ... NGC 134 -- lovely! I can still remember the first time I ever saw a 13th magnitude galaxy (using my old 25cm years and years ago) -- it was NGC 131 adjacent to 134, immediately N of a largish five-of-diamonds pattern of 10th and 11th mag stars.

Well done!

Les D

[Rob_K]

Thanks Les - yes NGC246 was a strange one, small but not tiny like the others. Not very impressive in my scope - just a dim round glow showing no detail at all, behind the tiny stars. Easy enough to pick out, but the glow wasn't strong enough to give it a 3-D look. Yet another one for a bigger scope I think...;)

Cheers -

[goober]

Rob, great stuff - both reports.

[Paddy]

Thanks for the report Rob. It inspired me to go looking for Barnard's Galaxy - just had a couple of very clear nights and enjoyed finding it very much.